How does the work of Diana Markosian and Yoshikatsu Fujii explore childhood and family breakups?

“My family will never be all together again. But I feel without a doubt that there is proof inside each of us that we once lived together.” Yoshikatsu Fujii

In my essay I am going to investigate how Diana Markoisan and Yoshikatsu Fujii explore childhood and family breakups through the use straight photography. I be looking at both photographers and evaluate their most influential work that inspired me.

I will also be addressing how separation can have an impact on how we grow up and how we understand the concept of love. I will be situating their work within the development of Realism in documentary photography. Documentary photography is associated with storytelling and It Is an approach that I have placed In my book about my family.  I shall begin by including single sized, passport images of my family members. This being mum, dad, me and my little brother. I will include images of when they first met, when they began their relationship and items and gifts, they gave to one another. Although the reasoning behind their divorce can’t be shared, I tried to incorporate images that are significant to me and can be used to show their happier times. I have found images from holidays and images of just me and my dad which I would also like to incorporate. I’m wanting to include him in the majority of it as although we may not be as close, I want him to still be a part of it.

Family and childhood images are important and are often recalled on later on in reaching adult life. I think for me, this project is simply going to close a chapter on something I have finally come to terms with. During their divorce I tried to isolate myself from both my parents. However, it got to the point where I was always in the middle of both. This is why a project on my parents is as important to me as it will bring back memories from parts of my childhood. Moving to Jersey from the island of Madeira and not speaking any English meant that I wouldn’t often ask to go and stay at friends’ houses instead I became more family orientated.

Realism and Documentary Photography

For me, the concept behind realism is for it to be real and exactly as it is being shown. Documentary photography is often used to show chronicle events and focuses on the environment that both associates with the subject and is significant in history. Exploring a theme like childhood and family is an exact category that their works fit into documentary photography.

Realism is an art movement that began in the 19^th Century taking photography as its main inspiration. The whole aim was that artists could formulate these highly detailed paintings that was a replica of the image. Artists such as Ralph Goings, Chuck Close and Richard Estes attempted to produce what the camera could capture. Documentary photography and realism go hand in hand as one offers the reality and the other is telling the narrative. Doroetha Lange is an American female photographer that is known for one of the most recognizable images called “Migrant Mother.”

The image was made in 1936 while she was employed by the US government during the time of the Great Depression. When she went to California, she encountered this lady Florence Owenes and her children. She explained that the family of 3 were crop picking. Lange explained “I do not remember how I explained my presence or why the camera was there. I liked her approach and think all the images she has taken falling under this category are captivating and tell a story. Knowing about the reality of things but not being able to change it is the exact reason I wanted to document parts of my childhood and what I can access. The disheartening fact of reality is that when a snapshot is captured there is no way of re-photographing that exact moment again. This fit well with my theme and the photographers that I have chosen to explore. There are a lot of contrasting theories and views on Doroetha Langes ‘Migrant Mother.’ For example James Estrein a critic for the New York Times published an article called ‘Unraveling the mysteries of Dorothea Lange’s ‘Migrant mother.’ He explained that this image has been round for several years and has been used on t-shirts, postage stamps, post cards and many other things. The message behind this love between mother and child is an iconic image that has been represented since 10^th century in religious painting and murals. The reasoning behind the image becoming so popular is due to the anonymity of this family, which realistically could have been many families suffering In America from the Great Depression. There have also been many questions raised in relation to gender, race and class. Lange has been referred to as the ‘mother’ of documentary photography, being one of the first woman to follow this tradition. It has been argued that her gender made her pictures, particularly of other woman, more compassionate. However, In 1978 Ms. Thompson wrote to the editor of Modesto bee newspaper explaining that she was the woman in the photo and that she felt exploited because she was never compensated for this photograph.  The Image appeals to emotional empathy, a mother worried about her children. The Image also reflects a humanitarian notion of universal similarities in the condition of human kind. It can reflect a symbol of motherhood, poverty and survival. Ms. Thompson later explained “For others this might represent the depth of the Depression; and for others this might represent a suppressing of racial identity. Each of those interpretations is perfectly valid so long as we agree on the facts.”

Diana Markosian

Diana Markosian was born in 1989 and is an American and Russian artist of Armenian descent, working as a documentary photographer and writer. In 1996, she moved to California with her brother and her mum, whilst her dad remained in Russia. She had no contact with him until 23, when she found her father in Armenia after 15 years of being apart. She explores the relationships between memory and place and is mostly known for how well she tells the narrative through the use of photos. One of her most famous projects is the one I am focusing on called “Inventing my Father.” Her work embraces uncertainty as a tool to craft her narrative. 

Contextual: This is the image Diana Markosian has used for her front cover of her “inventing my father” project. She explains that for most of her life her father was nothing but a cut out in most of her family albums. An empty hole as she has written herself and a simple reminder of how he wasn’t there. She explains that in one image they are dancing together in their tiny apartment and in another he is leaving. Her descriptions for her images are blunt and short which would be done initially to symbolise their relationship coming to an end. She tells the story that her father would disappear for a few months then return unexpectedly until one day in 1996. This day, they decided to leave him. Her mother woke her up and told her to pack her belongings and told her they were going on a trip. The next day they arrived at their new home in California. She also wrote “We never said goodbye to my father.”

For her mum her best solution in order to forget her husband was to cut him out of all the family albums, but for Diana it only made matters worse. She also explained she missed out on the feeling of having a father and sometimes wonders to this day what it would have been like having a relationship like that.

Visual: This image is taken with very low lighting. Immediately looking at the image without knowing any context behind it makes us as the viewers take a step back and think why has she done this? Markosian wasn’t the person to actually cut the whole in the image though. The darkening of the image and how the lighting sits on the subjects of the image make the image more mysterious and adds elements of curiosity. In the image we can see Markoisan, the baby, and her mother on the left and the missing figure that has been cut out is from just reading the title of her project is her father. It looks like it’s been taken from a family album but also looks relatively old.  

Technical:

Her images have a rather warm yellow and reddish undertones. I think she has done this purposely to create that mysterious yet inviting element to her images. It looks like she has used normal day lighting coming through maybe a kitchen window or something. Her focal point in the image is herself, her mother and father. Although when you first look at the image the first thing you notice is the cut-out figure which just from the title of her project “inventing my father” we can infer that it’s going to be him. The image is also a bit under exposed due to the lighting in which it was captured in.

Conceptual:

The meaning behind cutting the image as previously discussed was due to her mother not being able to cope with his abandonment. She told Markoisan that in order for her to deal with him leaving was to cut him out of everything that associated them together. I think her decision to photograph these and make a project about her father was almost to gain the closure she has always wanted. In order to help her mum officially close this chapter she needed to see what she had before as a reminder that most things happen for a reason and maybe this could have been a blessing in disguise. For me she maintained this idea that she will always care for her father despite their problems growing up.

These are a couple examples from her photobook:

Yoshikatsu Fujii

Yoshikatsu Fujii was born and raised in Hiroshima City. He began taking photos in Tokyo in 2006. Most of his work often deals with historical themes and memory lingering on in contemporary events. He created a project called “Red String.” Which was highly inspired by his parents’ divorce. This hand-made book has been nominated as one of the best photo books of 2014 by contributors to numerous publications including TIME magazine. This book which he decided to make hand-made has been bound together by the red string. This was important to him when making the book as the colour red in his community is known to symbolize unity. In Japan, legend has it that a man and a woman who have a predestined encounter have had each other’s little fingers tied together by an invisible red string since the time they were born. Not only is he bringing some of his cultural references he’s also making a project on something that will always be significant to him. Only 35 copies of this book were made which was also done purposely as his parents were married for 35 years.

Contextual: He was born and grew up in Japan. For places like that in the world family will always be a priority and Japanese are known for being massively family orientated. Too come out and decide they wanted to divorce after 35 years of being married was more of a shock to those who knew them than to themselves. Fujii explained that at the time of their divorce he didn’t feel any particular emotion apart from thinking that the time had come. He was anxious he might not be able to see them anymore and how many days he would be able to see them considering the distance to get to them. He explained that “my family will probably never be all together again. But I feel without a doubt that there is proof inside of each of us that we once lived together. To ensure that the red string that ties my family together does not come undone, I want to reel it in and tie it tight.”

Visual: I like the layout of these image and I think he has really thought out his process when designing his layout. The photo looks like it had been taken on the same day due to what the baby is wearing in the picture. It looks like they’re on the same wall as well. On the left the photobook is dedicated to his father and on the right his mother. I like the spacing around the image and how he has defied what a normal photobook would look like and chose to create the middle as a starting point. Right from this page we can already tell that it is going to be about his family, because of the way their holding the baby and doing some research on the red string and the reasoning behind that.

Technical: The lighting he has used to obtain these images was natural day light. I can tell this from the quality of the image and how you can see fine details. The images used are archival and looking like they’ve been glued down and others stitched together. When opening the book these are the first images we are presented with. The images look like they’re on the right exposure setting due to the clearance on the picture. Its sharp, focused and the focal point for the image is directly in the middle as the images look like they should join up but don’t.

Some more examples of Yoshikatsu Fujii’s work from Red String:

My Project

These are a few of the images I am going to incorporate into my photobook. The image on the left was one of their first images taken together when my mum moved to Jersey just sometime after my dad.

I feel like these image capture the idea of family and all being united. I am also going to include photos of my brother too as he was also an addition to our family in early 2009. 

I have taken some of my inspiration from both photographers. The example on the top right is inspiration from Diana Markosian and her example in which she cut out her dads’ figure. The images from the past are now the only images in which I can keep from the time of my parents being together. Reflecting and keeping these images close to me allows me to understand that things happen for a reason, not only that but also help me come to terms with their decision. Being 12 around the time the problems started was fairly young and a lot to handle, but now being 18 and producing a project like this has allowed me to view things differently. At the end of it all I wanted what was best for both of my parents, despite their continuous effort to stay together it just wasn’t meant to be. All the images I have chosen to use in my photobook are significant and have a connection to either the divorce or how I coped with it. I have included pictures of my little brother who is 10 years old now but was only 3 or so when all of this was happening. Due to their divorce, me and him became a lot closer and I started looking after him more and helping my mum a lot more. Having my brother so close to me during their separation helped me cope with it a lot more because I knew I wasn’t alone. To this day, years after their divorce I would still say me, and my brother are still close if not closer because of this. My parents’ divorce allowed me to create a bond with my brother that I would have never expected ever, despite the 7-year age gap. In my book I have also incorporated images of my childhood, these images are some of me and my brother when we we’re younger and I have even found some images of our house in Madeira. As I was born there and as it was there that it all started, I have chosen to use a photograph of our house and some images of the interior. The house is significant in my parents’ marriage as that is where it all begun, and it is where I associate with the times of them being together.

Conclusion

To conclude, I believe Diana Markosian and Yoshikatsu Fujii explore the theme of childhood and family, through photographing archival images and comparing and editing them in order to resemble that hidden message of absence. Each photographer has had similar situations that have somewhat led to abandonment. Although to some extent they can still communicate. This linked well with my personal study and my chosen topic which was separation and divorce. They both kept series of images that they’d collected and gathered throughout the years of their families and of themselves.

Similarly, to my project I also chose to do this. Their work inspired me to do something that affected me as a child and even at times whilst growing up. I’ve chosen to maintain a greater focus on images of my parents together and as the time went on I created this blurry and distorted effect on some of the images. The narrative as a whole is pretty simple as I didn’t want to offend anyone or even have my book only focused on one parent. Obviously, the beginning of it all started around 2010 so I’ve collected some images that I had when we went on a family holiday. That was one of the only times we went all together therefore that trip and even that island will always have a special connection to me. I am in contact with both my mum and my dad but live with my mum at this current point. My mum is single and has been my main root of support for my own life. My dad now has another family therefore were not as close as we used to be. There are times where I think about it and get angry but part of me knows he’s happy. I think overall, the photographers convinced me that things like separation happen to lots of families, some at younger ages than others but that everything happens for a reason. The first image from Markosian is the image above for her project “Inventing my father” this is the story line I liked as each image from her project had a sentence or so explaining the image and why she’d put It there. It was simple yet short and I think this is the exact effect she was trying to portray to us as the viewers and maybe mirroring the relationship she had with her father. Having something so personal be told in such a creative way adds the element of excitement and makes the sadness of the topic sort of fade away. At times when looking over the images I did begin to get quite upset but I am glad I chose this as my topic as it made me research a bit deeper than what we can just see in the photos. 

Bibliography:

• https://www.yoshikatsufujii.com/red-string-book
• https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/realism/
• http://www.dianamarkosian.com/projects
• https://www.lensculture.com/markosian
• https://time.com/3809867/fathers-day-inventing-my-father/
• https://www.lensculture.com/articles/yoshikatsu-fujii-red-string
• https://huxleyparlour.com/the-early-documentary-photography-of-dorothea-lange/
• https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/lens/dorothea-lange-migrant-mother.html